April 15, 2010

The Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff, General Gabi Ashkenazi, told the participants in the International Bible Quiz for Youth held in Jerusalem that the Israeli Defense Force sees the Bible as a guide in the deep and practical sense of the word. General Ashkenazi said that it is no accident that the Israeli Defense Force swears in soldiers with a weapon in one hand and the Bible in the other, a custom that reflects the uniqueness of the Israeli Defense Force and the deep bond of the Jewish people to the Book of Books.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

A closer study of the Bible will give understanding of why the Israeli Defense Force chief of staff says that God's Word is the guidebook for Israel's military today and I would add for the future as well according to Bible prophecy.

Since the beginning of the Israeli Defense Force, with the founding of the modern-day state of Israel, every new soldier that was sworn in to defend the Jewish state was sworn in with a weapon in one hand and the Bible in the other. This practice is evidence to the world that the connection of the Jewish people with the Bible and all that it records about God's plan for the Jewish people is absolute.

As students of the Bible these military leaders in Israel, not only use God's Word for instruction in military strategy, but they want the new recruits to look to the Bible for their military career as well. There are a number of actual military activities recorded in the Bible that give input for Israel's military strategy. One in particular is the record of Gideon's plan of operation to defeat Israel's enemy (Judges 7). There are many stories of modern-day Israeli wars where only God could have given victory to the Jewish warriors which is based upon the name for the Jewish state Israel, which means "God will fight for you".

Indeed this is the case for the future as well when Israel comes under attack from the coalition of nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and records that the Lord will fight for the Jewish state by raining hailstone, fire, and brimstone from heaven upon Israel's attacking enemies and destroy them (Ezekiel 38:18 - Ezekiel 39:6).

The prophecies of Israel's military guidebook, the Bible, will indeed be fulfilled.